The Catholic Cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 of Limburg, also known as Georgsdom or Limburger Dom in German after its dedication to Saint George

Saint George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

, is located above the old town of Limburg

Limburg an der Lahn

Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....

 in Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Its high location on a rock above the Lahn

Lahn

The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....

 provides its visibility from far away. The building is one of the most accomplished buildings of the late Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

 style.

History

The first church on the "Limburger Rock" was built in 910

910

Year 910 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* August 5 – The allied forces of Mercia and Wessex defeat an army of Northumbrian Vikings in the Battle of Tettenhall...

 by Konrad Kurzbold. Inside today's cathedral, the outline of the former church still can be found.

The date of placing the foundation stone is unknown. However, investigations of the wood used inside the Dom give information about the period in which it was built. According to estimates, construction began about 1200, maybe as early as 1190. The consecration was in 1235 by Theoderich von Wied, the archbishop of Trier.

The former monastery church of St. Georg was upraised in 1827 to be the Cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 of the new diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 of Limburg. The first bishop of Limburg was Jakob Brand (1827 to 1833). The diocese has currently about 700,000 Catholics and is one of the younger dioceses. On Friday, February 2, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the age-related resignation of former Bishop Franz Kamphaus. Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst was named new bishop on November 28, 2007, and took office on January 20, 2008.

Architecture

The polychrome external plaster of the Dom, consisting of white, red, ochre, black and some green, has been restored from 1968 to 1972 following original remains, which had been removed during restoration works in 1872 to 1873. This explains, why the Dom has been portrayed in rock-colour after that time.

The outside measures 54.5 m long, with a width of 35.4 m; rather moderate for a cathedral. Yet, the structure is richly divided and it has seven spires. The seven is a symbol for the sacraments. The tallest are the towers on the West side with a height of 37 m which form a distinct "twin-tower façade".

Such twin-tower facades are often found in the Rhineland

Rhineland

Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....

, for example in Xanten

Xanten

Xanten is a historic town in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany, located in the district of Wesel.Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park or archaeological open air museum , its medieval picturesque city centre with Xanten Cathedral and many museums, its large man-made lake for...

, Andernach

Andernach

Andernach is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, of currently about 30,000 inhabitants. It is situated towards the end of the Neuwied basin on the left bank of the Rhine between the former tiny fishing village of Fornich in the north and the mouth of the...

 or Koblenz

Koblenz

Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

. The most eye catching stylistic element is a huge round window, revolved by eight small rosettes, which makes the West front a clear centre. The rosette symbolises the four Evangelists. Despite the existing symmetry of the twin-towers, there are rich variations in forms, constructions such as round or pointed arches pilaster strips, small pillars, archivolts, windows and blind arches.

The sharp "crossing tower"

Crossing (architecture)

A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church.In a typically oriented church , the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, the transept arms on the north and south, and the choir on the east.The crossing is sometimes surmounted by a tower...

 overtops all other spires with a height of 66 m and forms the centre of the building.

In the inside of the Dom (nave and choir) the unornamented buttress are striking, whose abutments of the vaults span to the ceiling. Inside the aisle galleries, additional struts are hidden. The relatively simple interior is shaped by its narrow but high central nave.

External links

• History and facts about the Limburg cathedral
• The Ecclesiologist, by Cambridge Camden Society, Ecclesiological Society
• Remarks on church architecture, by John Louis Petit
  John Louis Petit
  -Life:He was born at Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, the son of John Hayes Petit, by Harriet Astley of Dukinfield Lodge, Lancashire. He was educated at Eton College, and contributed to the Etonian. He was elected to a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1822, graduated B.A. in 1823 and...